Iris' Story
by reno999
Summary: 500 years before the events of Final Fantasy IX, the world has changed forever. A cataclysmic event has destroyed nearly all civilised life. In the aftermath, a young Summoner named Iris hides among a group of rebels known as "The Dissenters". Led by a mysterious figure, they seek to take advantage of the turmoil and rule Gaia.
1. Chapter 1

Iris

Iris held on to the railings of the ship as another wave crashed alongside it. Each barrage of water that hit the old wooden deck caused another chink of doubt to emerge in her mind. Had she done the right thing? Summoners had many strengths. Sailing was not one of them. Another lurch from the ship- the wind was fierce and hit her chest every time it blew. Water flowed along the wooden deck. The gaslight hanging above on the mast waved from side to side, shining brightly against the dark night sky. It occurred to her that it might fall from its handle and smash- the last thing they needed. She raised her hand and cast a Shell spell over the lamp. That should do it. It was a mark of how inexperienced (or unhinged?) the runaways were that they had thought it was a good idea to hang a gaslight so delicately in a swaying ship. A part of her thought it mightn't be the worst thing to sink the ship, but orders were orders- find out what they were up to and stop them. Iris was interrupted again by her stomach. She vomited over the railings, the fourth time so far, and looked out to sea. As she did so, she heard a squelching noise from behind her. Another Beachplug had climbed on to the ship. She turned towards it. The three tentacles were splayed out on the deck, coming out from a brown, blobby mass that she had always taken to be a head, though it had no eyes. Back home, these things plagued the coastline. She had been surprised early on in the voyage to find that they were pretty common out here in the deep sea too. They weren't friendly- Monsters never were. But they were pretty harmless. Just as it raised the tentacles to attack, Iris threw a little Thunder spell towards it. Crackling. Dead. She watched it fade away, as all Monsters did when it was time to die. It was dark. Pure darkness. Clouds covered the twin moons above, threatening rain and swirling fiercely. Iris was alone. Below deck were hundreds of people who would happily throw her overboard if she knew who she was. A spy in the ranks. A Summoner. She headed back down into the lower decks, to the warmth- to the Dissenters.

She closed the door to the ship's deck and climbed down the wooden stairs with a beige plastered wall on either side. She felt a lot better now. The way was lit by little Fira lamps powered by magic- much safer than the gaslight hanging on the deck. She reached the bottom and walked towards the main meeting area, the roof hanging low above her head. Her red cloak was soaked but the lamps were quickly drying them. She passed her dorm on the way and popped in briefly. It was cramped when her roommate was here but Iris could move around ok when alone. Two beds were set perpendicular to one another, leaving a cluttered square for moving around in between the beds and the door. The floor down here was the same as above- a dark brown, knotted wood which had been trampled on more than once. She stepped over her roommate's bags (still not put away but never mind) and stopped at the small, dirty mirror on the wall. Iris pulled her hood down. It had dried but her hair hadn't- it looked even darker than usual when ringing wet. Grabbing a towel, she dried it the best she could, tying up her hair after. She stared herself in the face. Her hair was a mess, the frizzy curls barely being kept at bay. Her brown eyes looked tired- and they were. The one trait that set Summoners apart from all other peoples was the little horn coming out of her forehead, a dull white colour. She dried that too before taking a look at the scar on her cheek. It ran from just below the eye to just below her mouth. A permanent reminder of the Incident. Thousands of others had came off much worse. That's why she was here. Time to go. Before doing so, she crouched down and lifted up both her robe and the trousers underneath. Still there. Magic was all well and good, but Iris never went anywhere without her dagger, least of all this mission. She took it out of the leather sheath and smiled. She examined both sides and looked again at the handle. It was a typical Summoner design, intricate little carvings of Eidolons contained within. She could spot Ifrit and Shiva, among others. Before this was all over she would need it- Iris was sure of that. Summoners frowned on what they called "physical" weaponry- most thought it beneath them. Iris had always rolled her eyes at that- as if the "sophisticated" summoning of all powerful Gods to scorch a continent had been in some way better. Clipping it back in its sheath and standing up, she left behind the bedroom and returned to the narrow corridor, heading towards the centre of the lower deck.

She entered into a meeting room. It was dimly lit like the rest of the ship's underbelly, a long rectangular room about forty metres in length. There were wooden benches laid out along the width of the room and a small wooden box at the top of the room which an older man was standing on. Either side of him were two lanterns with a stronger light than the Fira lamps dotted around the ship. Dareem Kalm was the most senior Summoner on the ship and de facto leader of the Dissenters. His grey hair was as damp as Iris' as he surveyed the hundred or so Summoners who had joined him in parting ways from the tribe. His face looked stern and, like all the Dissenters, had a little indent were the Summoner's Horn had been. He had been on the Summoner's Council, at one point tipped to be the next Moderator. He had sacrificed everything after the Incident. Iris crept along the edge of the room till she found a seat alongside Kyra, her messy room mate who she had spoken to most on the sailing. She was hard work. Kyra had long, red hair and big, green eyes that pierced whenever she looked directly at you. Iris had never seen eyes like them. Her skin was pale but her cheeks flushed a little when she smiled. Unlike most of the other Summoners onboard, who carried a certain fierceness, Kyra was undeniably pretty and one of the youngest onboard. She also, unusually, didn't have her Summoner's Horn. You could just about make out the little indent were skin had grown over it. Even on an undercover mission like this, Iris would _never _ask how she lost it. That kind of thing just wasn't discussed. There had always been a taboo regarding hornless Summoners- although the idea that they lost their powers as a result of horn loss was a mere myth. Iris guessed she was in her early twenties, around five years younger than herself. She wore little steel rings in her ears, one of the few vanity items Iris had seen on the ship. She was beautiful. And she was very, very stupid.  
"Has he spoken yet?" Iris asked.  
"Not yet." Kyra turned to her, smiling, "It's exciting, isn't it?" Iris nodded with her best smiley maniac face, which she was quite proud of at this stage if she was honest with herself. Kyra continued. "I didn't even know there _was _a world beyond Mist Continent before I met Dareem and the others. And now, here we are, the start of a new life!" Iris continued to nod. She realised that she had better actually say some words at some point in this conversation.  
"Yeah… do you know _where _we're going?" Kyra leaned in, looking mischievous.  
"Well… I overheard a couple of Dareem's guards- _apparently _there's a set of islands in the south west, the "Salvage Archipelago", below the Forgotten Continent. We're heading for the largest island there." Iris frowned, quickly trying to recall her limited knowledge of places outside the Mist Continent.  
"But the Forgotten Continent… it's barren, no? Won't any islands nearby be the same? How can we live there?" Kyra shrugged her shoulders.  
"Dareem and the others know best. They won't lead us astray." She turned back towards the front, watching other Summoners file in to their seats. The blind faith was astounding. The Dissenters had brainwashed this young girl. She wasn't a bad person- Iris was sure of that. But they had filled her head with so much evil there was very little room for anything else. She looked around. There was more than one person in the room whose stupidity had been taken advantage of. And now it was too late- they had betrayed their people and embraced the path to war. She thought again about this "Archipelago"- Iris had never heard of these islands, though she had never heard of much outside the four main continents of Gaia, in fairness. Summoners had a decent knowledge of the world, but it was based more on their magic than any serious exploration- like most civilised life, they came from the Mist Continent, the other three largely abandoned. Certain complex spells had helped the Summoners to "feel" the shape of the world- its seas, its landmasses. The whole world was connected under the ground, and Summoners had learned to "feel" their way around. It was from these "explorations" that maps of the world were drawn and based on- both Summoners and the peoples with no magic at all were content to trust this method. But it was more of a rough sketch than a true picture of Gaia. She looked again at Kyra.  
"Nervous?" Kyra looked round, stern and angry.  
"Nervous? We've finally cut away the disgusting rot, the filth of the tribe. The vermin. I'm _elated_. Nervous isn't the word." She looked away, disgusted. It was less "speaking" and more "rasping" that she had just undertaken. Kyra did that a lot. Because she _looked _nice, a part of Iris thought she must _be _nice. And then when venom came, she couldn't help but be a little bit taken aback. But she wasn't the real problem here- she was just aping others. Iris looked at the group leaders at the front, battle hardened. They would lead Gaia into the abyss given half the chance.  
"It'll be nice to get off this boat though!". The beaming smile, the soft voice. Back again. Iris really, really wanted to punch her. She had been given one job- stop the Dissenters. All of this seemed a lot easier than dealing with this idiot and her mood swings.

Finally, Dareem Kalm was ready to speak as he cleared his throat. Iris looked forward. Kyra's looks were disarming- Dareem's were not. His face was a permanent scowl. The wrinkles on his faces were locked in an angry pose.  
"Friends, rise!"  
Just like that everyone in the room stood and raised their hands in the air before stretching their palms out horizontally at the top- the Dissenter's salute. Iris joined in. The palm motion was apparently to signify that they had the whole of Gaia in their hands. It didn't look like that. It looked incredibly stupid. He motioned for them all to sit. Before speaking, he put his hand through his short gray hair. Or what was left of it.  
"These last weeks have been trying. The weather hasn't been kind. No doubt the _traitors_ have instructed Ramuh to pursue us and thwart us at every turn!" The room murmured and nodded in agreement. Paranoia everywhere. To be fair, they hadn't sent the Thunder God but the "traitors" _had _sent a spy on board, so they did have some cause for concern. Never mind.  
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel- we will shortly land at our new home." Cheers and clapping erupted around the room. Iris didn't need to fake cheering- she'd finally get off this bloody boat. But when she looked around the room her disguise kicked back in. She looked into the eyes of true believers, grins transfixed to their face whenever the leader spoke. There was no escaping it- the room had a bloodlust. She could almost smell it. This is what Summoning had done to them. They craved the power of the Eidolons, the all powerful "Gods" of Chaos that Summoners alone could bring forth, to the point were nothing else mattered. They had always been a vocal minority in the Summoner Tribe, pushing for a more aggressive stance towards the non magic people who they shared the Mist Continent with. The Incident had led them to openly rebel. Iris still shivered when she thought about that month. So much fire. So many killed. Summoning the Gods, it had always been said, was meant to liberate Summoners, helping them to understand the world and explore its realms. That's what Summoners had always done- but the Incident had changed everything. The tribe split in two- the main body left to pursue a quiet life after the calamity they had caused. The Dissenters chose to pursue their own goal- power.

Dareem called for calm again and, instantly, the cheering died down. True believers, and obedient too.  
"What awaits us is harsh, friends, to be sure." Silence filled the room now. "Wind, cold, isolation." He paused again. If he did another dramatic pause Iris decided she would put a fireball through his face. "But it is from these harsh surroundings that we will prepare to realise our _true _destiny."  
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Kyra screamed. And a fireball for her too. Or just punch her. Preferably both. Iris smiled. Dareem proceeded to discuss their leaving of the ship. They were indeed heading for an island, called "Sacrobless", in this "Salvage Archipelago" that Kyra had spoken of. After docking, they would apparently head for a lone mountain near the middle of the biggest island. Iris gulped, thinking of the weather outside. She had a funny feeling that wouldn't be a nice walk. "From there, friends, we will prepare for our return home. We will communicate with the God of Chaos who resides on this island." The room perked up. Again, Iris didn't have to pretend. An Eidolon _resided_ on the island? That made no sense. Summoners believed, and had no reason to think otherwise, that Eidolons couldn't exist for long on the mortal plane, and could only be brought forth briefly. Someone in the front row, a gruff sounding man, began to speak.  
"Which?" Dareem smiled.  
"All will be revealed, my friends, but this agent of Chaos will help us conquer the seas and tip the balance in our scales" More murmuring and excitement around the room. Iris frowned. What exactly were the Dissenters planning? Thankfully, she wasn't the only person to think this.  
"And what then? When will we return to claim what is rightfully ours?" shouted a man from the back of the room. Murmurings from some. They were impatient.  
"All in good time, my friend. When we have gathered our strength, we will return to our home- to the Mist Continent. The Incident was just the beginning- we will restore rightful order to the Continent." He raised his hands to shoulder level, surveying the room, "My friends, we will dominate the _Unconnected _peoples of this world, and our traitorous brethren who have fled for the sake of _peace _will be powerless to stop us." The excitement level in the room climbed. Iris looked around. "Unconnected" was a (slightly derogatory) term used to describe Non Summoners- those who had no direct "connection" to the Gods. Summoners had always been at peace with them. The Dissenters planned to change that. The Incident had shown what the Eidolons could do and they wanted more.  
"What will we do with the traitors?" shouted another Iris leaned forward. She hadn't heard many people on the ship speak about the _other _Summoners, those who the Dissenters had betrayed. Partly, she thought, because deep down in these maniac's hearts there was a sadness- they had abandoned family, friends and in some cases even their children to follow Dareem to the ends of Gaia. She could feel the room draw its breath a little. Dareem seemed to be considering the answer.  
"We all know what happened after the Incident- I prefer to say The _Awakening_\- our fellow Summoners lost their way just at the moment we realised our _true_ potential." Iris closed her eyes and could still picture the terror as the Holy God, Alexander, ransacked a continent with his power. Uncontrolled, unchecked, unbowed. The night Summoners realised they were fallible. The night they remembered that Eidolons weren't pets to be trained. The darkest night in the tribe's history was, for these people, the greatest of triumphs. More nodding. "We must realise, friends, that they have been lost to their timid natures. The baton falls to us now. There was no schism, we _are _the tribe now." A few people applauded- others continued to nod. One woman in the second row had literally been nodding since the start of the meeting. If he told her to wet herself, would she? He continued, "For years now they have been polluting our heritage and worst of all, consider themselves the _equals _of the vermin we shared our lands with." He had said "equals" with a particularly rasping tone. The rebels shook their heads. Cries of "Shame". Spitting on the ground (Iris had never quite understood angry spitting). "The_ Unconnecteds_ of this world are not our _friends_, they are on this world to _serve _us. And our disgusting leaders allowed them to build their cities and _weapons_. No more! No more!"  
"They must be punished!" Someone from the back shouted. No response from the crowd. Dareem spoke again.  
"When we have taken back our home, put the vermin in their place and look to the rest of the world, to the traitors hiding away in their dark corner outside Mist Continent…" he paused again, "well, they consider themselves vermin's equal, so we will treat them as such." he said quietly, finishing off with a smug little grin. Cheering erupted. It lasted a couple of minutes. Iris thought of her Tribe- the "traitors". They had no choice but to leave the Mist Continent after the Incident. By summoning the Holy God, they had changed everything. So much destroyed, so many injured. Fires burning for weeks. But at least they knew what they had done. These people didn't. She wished she was with them. Her friends, her family. It made her sad to think she wasn't and was surrounded by these morons. "And now, my friends" said Dareem, "I present our first soldier." Excitement filled the room. Iris leant forward. He was handed a little wooden box with a patterned lid by someone in the front row, an etching of what Iris thought was a serpent around it. He opened it and the glow travelled through the whole room. The pale blue light of the Godstone, _Aquamarine_.

She looked around. The most frightening thing of all was the eyes. They all looked just like anyone else, but the eyes gave it away. Wide with wonder but with a barely hidden lust. Had she looked at their mouths she probably would've seen them drooling. She looked closer at the stone. It had been a strange thing for them to steal. Godstones were used by the tribe to communicate, and summon, the Eidolons. But _Aquamarine_ was something of a rarity- It had all the properties of a Godstone but, ultimately, no one had ever been able to summon whatever Eidolon it was connected to. It was a dud. It had been, for as long as anyone could remember, a useless curiosity. Dareem, evidently, thought he had found the answer to this on the other side of the world.

Iris looked at her robe. They had abandoned the tribe's colours of white and orange for this crimson monstrosity. What bothered her less than the clear reference to blood in their clothing was the utter naffness of the whole thing. She couldn't wait to torch the robe when this was all over. It occurred to her that she wanted to set fire to pretty much everything she had looked at in the last twenty minutes. She was in a bad mood.

Before anyone spoke again, a horn blew from the deck. They had arrived. "Friends," another needless pause. It would be very difficult to get through this meeting without blowing this man's brains out. "We have arrived. The time is now. And the world is on notice. Hail The Eidolons!" His hand flew up again and everyone else followed suit, repeating "HAIL THE EIDOLONS". Iris realised after about a second that she hadn't followed suit and quickly threw the hand up. That was a bad move. She glanced at Kyra- she was staring dead ahead with a big smile on her face. She needed to be more careful. If they found out the mission was dead, as was she. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she filed out of the room with the others and on to the deck. The Godstone was put back in a case and handed to someone. She had to keep looking ahead and eventually lost sight of it. It had to be destroyed. Iris snarled- Eidolons had nearly destroyed her home. And these people wanted to keep using them. Even the main Tribe had only realised after it was too late. She hated them. She would destroy the Godstone. The less Eidolons in Gaia, the safer it would be. Kyra clipped at her feet.  
"Woopsie! Sorry, so excited!" Iris looked ahead and rolled her eyes. Torture.

Iris strained her eyes to adjust to the lack of light on deck as the ship moved toward the shore. The sun was just beginning to rise but most of the sky remained a dark colour and the clouds swirled violently above. The weather hadn't improved since her last bout of vomiting, though as they moved closer to the shore Iris found her stomach less likely to hurl. The wind was still strong and little drops of rain were flying about the air now, occasionally dotting against her face. As she looked around at the Dissenters, she realised that she could truly relate to them all for the first time. Everyone was further away from home than they had ever been before. Until the Incident, no Summoner had ever left their lands for longer than a few days. And here they were, on the other side of the world. Gone were the forest valleys of home, replaced by flat, grassy plains (not barren after all) with few trees in sight. She could just about make out a raised hill in the distance- a mountain maybe, it was too dark too tell. The island looked cold, dark and bleak. Most of all, it was isolated. Thousands of miles from home, the Dissenters could do what they liked here.  
"No Mist!" said a man next to her, and Iris smiled. The Mist Continent they both hailed from took its name from a thick fog which hung permanently in the lowlands, forcing most settlements on to higher ground. The Mist made it harder to breathe and was always home to more Monsters than the Mist-less areas. It was cold, dank and humid. Despite its magical properties (it could be used to make weapons), Iris had always hated the thick fog. Some claimed that its very presence affected people's emotions, made them aggressive- she couldn't remember a time when there wasn't some little war over very little going on in the Continent. It was just a theory, but the Incident had convinced Iris it was true- only an infected people could have done something so stupid. Plus, moralising aside, the Mist made everything look so dank. It'd be nice to get a bit of sunshine. Freezing cold sunshine. Or just freezing cold clouds. And probably not for long- the days this far south seemed to be very short. The boat came towards the shore and an anchor was thrown down. They had arrived.

It took around twenty minutes to get all the leather cases from below deck on to the damp, grassy shore. It occurred to her that she probably should've snuck a look at what was inside whilst they were sailing. They were heavy enough to assume, however, that the Dissenters would not be unarmed in their new home. Iris kept her head down and helped the others. After the brief lapse at the end of Dareem's diatribe, she was conscious of appearing to be doing nothing. She found herself next to Kyra. She was cheerily sorting boxes in the same way that people might pack for a holiday. How did this silly girl get involved with these awful people? It made Iris sad, in a way. Kyra had been groomed by awful people like Dareem. She wasn't alone. Their virus of hate had been growing for a long time. Spread by lies and fear. Most of the other Dissenters looked serious and determined. They had a job to do. So did Iris. The Godstone was key. After the Incident she had realised just how powerful the Eidolons were. She had to get her hands on it and make sure no one ever summoned from it. Eventually, the boat was emptied out, still anchored at the coast. Everybody huddled around, shivering. Dareem stood with three crimson cloaked figures, two significantly bigger than the others. Muscle. He began to speak to the crowd. Everyone's hood was up, which made it easier for Iris to look around, searching for the Godstone. She moved around as his voice struggled over the wind, reducing him to shouting rather than projecting.  
"Head for the Mountain! There, we will find cover." he said. Iris could see its outline, more of a large, stony hill than an all out mountain, in the distance. It was an odd shape, almost one mountain on top of another, like it was two tiered. The first had a long, flat summit at the top. And in the middle of that was another large, rocky feature which stretched further up to the sky. The centrepiece of the island didn't look manmade per se, but it was a curious feature in an otherwise unremarkable piece of land. There was something about it. The wind continued to batter against her face. Dareem spoke again.  
"I will meet you there, my friends. The crew and I," he said, gesturing to his three hooded companions, hoods up and faces hidden, "will go back to the ship. We cannot leave her here. There may be a more sheltered position around the coast. When we have found a place, we will head for the mountain." There was no response from the others. This was as close as they could come, Iris thought, to expressing discomfort with the leader. The promise of global genocide didn't seem to bother them. But the idea that he would stay warm for longer than them seemed to be a bit much. Dareem didn't seem to notice- it was proclamation time.  
"Dissenters! We are the one _true _tribe. Sacred Blessings on this island!"  
"SACRED BLESSINGS ON THIS ISLAND." They repeated. Iris didn't join in- she had never heard that slogan from Dareem and had no idea how the rest of them managed to keep up with all the chants- for one thing, how on earth did they know which of his words to repeat and which to simply listen to?  
"Yes, indeed," said Dareem, "The Eidolons have blessed this Holy Isle. We are its first- we shall be its last. This SacroBless Island, shall be remembered as the place we rose above the mediocrity and filth of this world." The crowd cheered as Dareem and his two stooges walked towards the boat. The rest, Iris included (reluctantly) started the long drudge towards the hill. As they walked away, she looked back and confirmed what she didn't want to be true. They had the Godstone. It's faint glow was visible through the downpour. She swore under her breath and looked around. Nothing she could do in the here and now. Plans would have to change.

Iris sighed. It had been half an hour and progress was slow. She looked at the luggage. It was raining hard now and the wind was getting worse; her hood was up but barely hanging on. There was a glimmer of the sun quite far in the distance but it didn't seem to change the darkness above. The luggage was being carried in wheelbarrows which had been produced from one of the leather cases. It seemed to be an unwritten rule that you volunteered to push them every now and again and Iris was trying her best to avoid taking her turn. In front were the majority of the Dissenters, heads bowed and fixed firmly ahead. The wheelbarrows were full of those leather boxes. So much danger in these cases. Weapons, amulets, potions- all the tools for battle. She thought again about Dareem and his stooges in the boat. They had the one thing she wanted. The Dissenters were powerful mages, no question, but without an Eidolon they would be far less dangerous. Iris couldn't shake the notion that the further away she was from the stone, the more time she was wasting. She looked over to the coast and back to the Dissenters. There was only one way to get to the ship and she had to move soon. It was dangerous, and as soon as she made her move they would know there was a traitor in the ranks. Iris bit her lip. Then she thought of Dareem's grin as he had outlined his plans. Was it now or never? The Godstone was all that mattered. Time to move. Taking her hood down first, she kept her hand low and wondered if anyone could see the glow in her hand. The rain battered against her face. A fireball flew from her palm towards the luggage and it exploded on impact. The fire flew into the air, bright against the wind and the darkness. People screamed. Running here and there. The rain pouring. Without Dareem there was no one to take charge. Iris smiled. Perfect. And then she ran. 

Iris didn't look back. It was impossible to tell if anyone had seen her cast the spell or run away. It didn't really matter- she had made her move. This was a stupid idea. This was a _smart_ idea. Both thoughts raced through her head as the wind and rain battered against her face. The coast wasn't far. She ran as fast as she could for ten minutes, her boots squelching on the wet grass, and could see that the edge of the island was near- she was approaching a cliff edge. The boat may have already passed this point- she hadn't had time to make much of a judgement. Arriving, out of breath, she crouched and hands on her knees. The hood was down and her soaking wet hair was flailing in the wind. The little band she had used to tie it must have blown away. Her heart sank as she looked down. There was no ship passing along the coast below. Iris beat her fists against the ground. Had she chosen the wrong side of the island? No- she had seen the boat go this way. And yet, she couldn't see anything. The island was still submerged in darkness and, looking back, she could still see the bright fire burning. Alone at the far side of the world. She was panicking. This little decision might have cost her the mission- and probably her life. One bad call. She felt like crying.

A glint of light below.

Iris looked down. Right down. The cliff was around twenty feet high. The gaslight from the ship was still swaying. The ship wasn't in front or behind her. It was directly below her. It moved a little bit ahead and Iris knew if she didn't jump now, she never would. She tried to steady herself.

Her heart was still racing, her legs still weak. She couldn't jump feeling like this. She knelt on one knee, trying to slow her breath and the pounding of her heart. She thought of what she would do when on board. Confront Dareem? Hide? Her heart pounded. This wasn't working. Then Iris closed her eyes. She thought of her friends, her family, her tribe. Those who the Dissenters had betrayed. They had left home too- refugees by choice. They would be feeling all the same emotions as the people on this island. The wonder, the excitement, the fear- the determination to succeed. They had left for peace, to settle elsewhere and never return. The Dissenters were preparing for conquest. And Iris was surrounded by them. As a tear ran down her cheek, she could just about _feel_ the tribe's magic from all the way across the world. She hadn't realised until now that in her whole life she had never felt the empty void of being away from them that she had on the ship. But when she closed her eyes and focused, they were there. Distant, but there. She didn't know where they were, or if they had arrived at their new home, but they were alive. Her heart slowed. She opened her eyes. Rain and tears fell down her face. Time to go. She ran to the edge of the cliff and leapt towards the ship, hearing waves crashing against the rocks as she flew towards the sea. 


	2. Chapter 2

How long was it going to take to park this bloody boat?

The question went through Iris' increasingly impatient mind again and again, with shorter intervals between each question as the rain became heavier and heavier. It was battering against the deck now. She was curled up in an opening at the side of the boat, but the wood above was starting to rot - the ship was showing her age- and was offering little shelter as the heavens continued to pour. The rain reminded her of a place back home where it always rained. A village of intelligent rodents lived there- they must be miserable. As she was crouching, her hood formed a little bowl at the top of her head where water had starting to fill.

Despite the worsening weather, it was a relatively smooth sailing now that they were hugging the coast, save the occasional bump into the rocks at the shore. The cliffs were shielding her from the wind and this, at least, gave Iris the opportunity to think clearly and come up with a plan. As exhilarating as the whole jump-onto-the-ship-from-the-cliff-edge idea had been, she wasn't _really _sure what to do next. Tempting as it was to go below deck, she didn't know the exact whereabouts of Dareem and his helpers. She put her hand towards her ankle and drew out the dagger. The gaslight swinging above reflected a little glint on it. It just about cast her reflection. She looked a mess, unsurprisingly.

Suddenly, the light started to change. Iris looked up. The boat was moving towards a large cave which had opened out from one of the cliffs. It was enormous, easily big enough for the ship to get through. She crawled out of her hiding place and stood up, placing the dagger back in her sheath. It was risky, but she couldn't help it- she had to get a better look. The ship slowly moved into the cave, the rain fading away and being replaced by the sound of the water below and a dripping from above. At first, it appeared to be just a dank, ordinary cave, albeit a huge one. But as the outside light began to fade, something extraordinary happened. The walls of the cave, and its roof, seemed to illuminate. Thousands, probably millions, of little dots of light began to appear. They weren't overwhelming- it was still dark and, in truth, didn't shed much light on to the ship. But they cast a pale blue light over the walls of the cave. The same colour as the _Aquamarine_ that Dareem had displayed to the crew, Iris thought. This wasn't just some random bit of land in the middle of nowhere. There was something here. Hearing noises from below, she rushed back to hide, placing her dagger back in its sheath. She peered out to see Dareem and two other Dissenters on the deck- the big ones. Dareem's hood was down whilst the others remained cloaked. The _Aquamarine_, which seemed to glow stronger than before, was in his hand. He tossed it up and down like a paperweight. She crept forward to just behind a crate on the ship, looking over to see the three of them. The gaslight above shone a pretty good light on them, so Iris could see quite a lot as she was, more or less, covered in darkness.

The other two, both men, were much taller than Dareem and, Iris was a little shocked to see as they turned round to the side, had broadswords hanging from their hips. It was very unusual for Summoners to be so open with "physical" weaponry- even Iris hid her dagger. The Dissenters clearly didn't care much for that tradition (that was one area where she sympathised with them). They both had their hoods up and wore black boots. In truth, they both looked remarkably similar. The exact same build. She strained her eyes but couldn't get a look at their faces- they never quite turned the right way.  
"Are you sure about this?" asked Dareem, answered by silence. Iris was wondering why the strongmen didn't respond when she heard another voice.  
"It's exactly as I said, Dareem- you can see it all around you. The Eidolon is here. He surrounds us." To Iris' great surprise, Kyra appeared from below the deck. Her flowing red hair had a very slight blue tinge thanks to their surroundings. What was _she _doing here?  
"That's not what I mean. Will we be able to… control him?" he said. Iris nearly laughed. The Dissenters didn't like to admit that's what they _really _wanted. Control, not worship. They claimed to love the Gods but they felt nothing of the sort. Kyra looked at him again and smiled.  
"We need him, Dareem. We need his power. Only with the power of a God can we make more of them," she said. What did "them" mean?  
"You didn't answer the question, Kyra", Dareem replied, correctly.  
"Then you'll just have to trust me, you stupid fool!" She rasped. "Now do you have anything else to say or will you be a good boy and trust me, Old Man?" Iris nearly gasped. Dareem backed away a little. She caught a glimpse of his face, he was scared. For the past three weeks Kyra had struck her as nothing more than a drone- and a stupid one at that. Why was Dareem scared of her?  
"…No." he said. This was a different Dareem. Iris realised then that he was just the mouthpiece. Kyra was the real leader. Why hadn't Kyra revealed herself to people on the ship? Did they know? So many questions. She leant forward to try and get a better view. She didn't see the chain that she knocked down to the floor. The echo went all around the cave. They looked around. Iris kept still. If she moved, they'd see the flicker. She had to hope the darkness did its job. They looked back to each other, Kyra playing with her sleeve a little as she did so. Close call. Iris stayed perfectly still.  
"Stupid old ship" said Dareem  
"Where did you get this piece of junk anyway?" asked Kyra. Dareem shrugged.  
"Some human coastal village- after the Incident the place was in ruins- this was the only ship they had. Was thirty of us against about ten of them. With their silly little swords." They both laughed. Iris was going to take her silly little dagger and kill them both.  
"And anyway," Kyra said, returning to the topic at hand, "Eidolon or not, we have a _new _power now." At that they both looked towards the other two Dissenters, who had been silent up to that point. He approached them. Iris noticed he had a slight limp which she hadn't before. The pomp and ceremony on the ship, it was an act. He looked like a frail old man. Not a very nice one either.  
"It still amazes me how you did this, Kyra. Exactly _how _did you do it?" He touched both their shoulders, fiddled with their hoods. No response. These guys had discipline.  
"The power of Mist knows no bounds, Dareem. Have you never wondered why there are more Monsters below the Mist than up in higher ground?" He didn't respond. Iris took that to mean that he hadn't and just didn't want to seem stupid.  
"The Monsters don't just thrive on Mist, they _are _the Mist." Dareem looked confused. That made for at least two people. "If we can use the Mist to create spells, to power our weapons, then why can we not use the Mist to create our own… desires?" she said that last word quite playfully, like it was the punchline of a joke. Dareem didn't seem to get it. Neither did Iris.  
"But… you need subjects to do this with?" Kyra shrugged, seeming a little irritated. Her anger wasn't fair from the surface.  
"Yes, for now. The Mist is too volatile for me to start from scratch- maybe one day someone will be able to mould their own Mages, but for now we need a host. And energy, lots of it. Energy only an Eidolon can give us."  
"They're just so… docile. I think that's what makes me feel so funny around them."  
"And that's what makes them so useful!" Kyra exclaimed, "They're _obedient_ Dareem, just what we need the vermin to be when we return home."  
"And when we conquer them…" Dareem said, hesitantly.  
"Then our strength will grow even more," said Kyra, smirking. "Dareem, with the power of the Mist we can inherit Gaia."  
A silence followed as the ship moved deeper into the cave. The lights from above seemed to be getting brighter. Iris kept still.  
"What about the girl?" Dareem asked. Iris' heart jolted a little. Kyra tilted her head a little.  
"She's a little bit stupid to be honest. Nothing to worry about."  
"I still don't know why you didn't just kill her when you realised."  
"Oh, Dareem, where's the fun in that? Plus, we still need to know where her traitor friends have actually gone. Our spies didn't spot their ship, or where it went." Iris' heart was pounding so loud she thought they could probably hear her. "We just know the traitors are _alive, _Dareem, you can feel it as well as I can." Iris had been played.  
"When did you realise she was a spy?" Kyra paused to consider.  
"Hmm… if I'm honest I always _sort of _knew. It's the hesitation Dareem, true believers don't wait to salute, do they? You ought to have seen her just there on the ship." Thoughts were racing in Iris' head. That moment. They didn't know she was on _this_ ship though. She still had the element of surprise. Time to grab the dagger. Before she moved a muscle, they spoke again.  
"So what will we do with her? Make her into one of them?" Dareem asked. What did he mean by that? Kyra laughed, looking at him the way a patronising teacher looks at a child who's just given a silly answer.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you knew! I put a Stop spell on her when she knocked that chain over. She's paralysed. Guards- now please." She pointed directly at Iris, looking her in the eye and smiling. Iris had kept still since she had knocked over the goblet. It had been easy. And now she knew why. Iris couldn't move. She had never been more scared in all her life. Fear swept over her. She felt like she was shivering but, of course, she wasn't. The two tall guards turned towards her and, if she could move, Iris' jaw would have hit the floor. As they stalked over to her in unison, she stared at their heads. Underneath their crimson hoods was darkness, a black void, except for their eyes- bright, golden eyes which shone out at her. Their gloved hands felt like dead weights. Iris' heart sank. She was completely frozen and her joints didn't move, it was like they were picking up an ornament. Kyra and Dareem stood looking at her, Dareem with a serious look on his face, Kyra with that manic smile. She crouched down to meet Iris' face. Her big eyes stared right into her own.  
"Hello!" Iris couldn't respond. She couldn't even change her expression. Her mouth was hanging down. It was painful. Kyra frowned sarcastically.  
"Not feel like talking? But you were so chatty these past three weeks!". Iris looked at her, she had no choice really. This close up, she had never noticed how odd Kyra's eyes were. Even in this moment of terror, she could see it. Kyra's green irises seemed to be almost rotating. Something was swirling round and round. Like a little wisp of smoke trapped inside the eye. What was that? Kyra waved her hand before she could think more and Iris' body collapsed back into normal shape. She screamed as her joints loosened, causing Kyra to laugh again, clapping her hands as she did so. The spell was less paralysis now than some form of extreme fatigue. Iris took advantage of being able to breath through her mouth again, small pleasures, as she lay hanging limp, held up by the two guards (were they the "Mages"?) on either side. Kyra knelt a little and held Iris' head up in her hand, smiling. Iris stared into her face. Kyra was the enemy. She had to kill her. Somehow. Her brain started working again. She hadn't travelled for three weeks, lived with these insufferable people, to be killed by this maniac.  
"Restrain her." Kyra said to the guards without looking at them, still staring at Iris. Her smile faded as she got up and the guards dragged her away, grabbing under her shoulders. Her feet dragged. She could walk now, Iris was pretty sure, but she didn't want them to know that. She needed time. Kyra went below deck, walking by without even looking at her, motioning for Dareem to follow. He watched Iris go by. She took one more breath to settle herself. They passed by Dareem, who looked at her dismissively. Time to make a scene. She spat on him and laughed, sore as it still was to move her muscles. His expression turned to rage and he grabbed her from the guards. He kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying against the rails of the ship. They were all the same. Dareem was the sort of proud, arrogant old man who couldn't let a little girl do something like that without consequences. He had to asset his authority. He had let Kyra humiliate him. Iris knew he was hurting, ready to lash out. And the idiot had just done that. She took her chance. A fireball shot from both her hands. One struck Dareem, sending him crashing against the other end of the ship, and the other missed both guards but struck a crate near them, causing an explosion which rocked the ship. They looked at her. Would they help Dareem or go to her? She didn't wait to find out. Looking at their golden, unthinking eyes one more time, she grabbed the railing and threw herself over into the dark water. She plunged in and the cold swept through her. She had no time to let herself acclimatize. She swam underwater as far as she could without coming up. Disappointingly, this was about ten metres and, when she came up for breath, she was behind the boat but was close enough that she wouldn't be seen. Iris could hear Kyra screaming at Dareem and, if she listened closely, she could just about hear the old man whimpering. She clambered up on to some rocks in the cave and crept into a little inlet. The Mages stood at the back of the ship, staring out, motionless.

It must have been half an hour before she finally poked her head out from the cave within a cave she had hidden in since jumping off the boat. That had given her time to think. When she was given this mission, the Summoner Council had told Iris that the Dissenters were a group of wantaway rebels led by a disgruntled old Summoner. The last hour had shown her that Dareem was no more than a puppet. Kyra was the leader. The old man felt _he _should be calling the shots, and publicly he certainly seemed to be, but he knew the truth and it killed him. He was being used. Dareem was predictable- his tantrum had shown that. Kyra wasn't. Based on her Stop spell, which still made Kyra shift uncomfortably, she was also extremely powerful. That kind of spell was meant to last for a minute or two- Iris had been paralysed for longer than that. Those "Mages" as well. The dark void Iris had stared into. It was the eyes that creeped her out the most. The fact that they weren't just lights for show- when you looked into them you could see awareness- they were alive, no question of that. Kyra had mentioned Monsters and Mist. Had she _created _them from Monsters? Iris shuddered. She had never seen anything like those creatures.

And she couldn't forget the Eidolon. The reason she was here. From the way Kyra spoke, the "Sea Serpent" as she described him was extraordinarily powerful- and seemed to be key in helping Kyra make more of the Mages. After the Incident, Iris had seen just how powerful the Gods could be. Before the Summoning, Tribal Council had argued that summoning Alexander would be the gateway to progress, the pinnacle of hundreds of years of work for their Civilisation. What followed changed a Continent and its people forever. They knew after that- the Gods could never _really _be controlled. If Kyra _had _used Mist, she had manipulated it like no one had ever done before. How did she do it? Could she control an Eidolon in the way she controlled them? And what about _her _eyes? Too many questions, she had to focus, and she had to act soon. She had to stop Kyra and take care of the Godstone. She looked into the wider cave, creeping out of her hiding place. The ship was long gone. For around half an hour she walked along the edge of the water, picking up the pace as she went, her muscles just about back to normal. The blue crystals all around the walls and roof of the cave became brighter as she went, but never blinding. If the circumstances weren't so dire, Iris would say they were beautiful. But she was alone and freezing on an island with genocidal maniacs. So in truth it was just a bit scary. She looked at the water. It was jet black, as though the cave were completely dark. No matter how hard she strained, Iris couldn't see anything. It didn't look like there were any Monsters down there. Nor where there any in the cave itself, which was strange. Monsters were everywhere that people weren't. Or at least, that's what people thought. She thought again about the Mages- Kyra had mentioned a host- had she made them from Monsters? The river in the cave started to turn a corner. It was hard to tell, but Iris had a feeling they were moving closer to the centre of the island. And then, when she turned it, her heart stopped. Up ahead was nothing, pure darkness, but for two golden eyes. Could he (it _looked _like a him but who knew) see her? The silhouette became clearer. The hood was still up, which was a bit of a relief- Iris had started to convince herself that these things had no head, and she just couldn't deal with that right now. His hands were at his sides, pointed down and out. The crimson robe was closed. Iris gently opened hers to reveal the beige tunic that she wore. She always did that when it was time to fight. He was standing on a small rock which had stuck up from the centre of the river. As she moved closer around the side of the water, she could see the ship docked behind him. It didn't seem that there was anyone on board. They had told the creature to wait. Just when she started to wonder (optimistically) if he hadn't seen her, his head turned. It was time. They stared at each other for a moment. And then they made their move. Two fireballs flew from both their hands, colliding with each other and briefly lighting up the whole cave. The fight was on.

As soon as the attacks collided, Iris leapt from her position, scrambling up a nearby wall whilst keeping an eye, and her spell hand pointed and ready, at her opponent. For his part, he leapt from the rock he was standing on. Iris gasped when she saw where the Mage had landed. He had jumped high enough to land on the rocky level that Iris was climbing towards. It must have been at least thirty feet high. A few seconds later she made the top, scrambled up and looked towards him, just in time to see another jet of energy fly across towards her. She dived out the way, hearing it crash against the rocks behind her, sending a few blue crystals flying. She looked back towards him. Iris couldn't see properly, but got the distinct impression he hadn't broken sweat. She, on the other hand, had a stitch already and her face was covered in bits of gravel. Clambering to her feet, she steadied herself. The cave had reached a circular dead end and, down below, she could see the ship anchored. She and the Mage were on an upper level, thirty feet or so above the ground, which consisted of an almost circular path going right around the perimeter of the cave wall. In the middle, other rocks extended out, forming a natural bridge which extended across the diameter- a direct link between Iris and the Mage. The circle was broken with no path between the 2 points where they had each climbed (Iris tried to push the fact that he jumped to the back of her mind) and were the river came through to the dead end. She ran towards the bridge and hid behind a rock. She looked up. The crystals on the ceiling were closer to her now, casting a pale blue light over everything this high up. She had to think fast. His spells were powerful, he was quick and very agile. What did she have that he didn't? Iris felt the dagger, smiled, and then her heart sank as she remembered he had a sword. Thoughts racing more. She could see the sword. He didn't (she hoped) know about the dagger. She heard the sound of magic again. Time to move. She leapt up and looked towards him, casting a Shell spell as she did so. A fireball flew towards her, but faded instantly when it touched the pale green aura which now surrounded Iris. The Shell instantly vanished- it was very short term magic, Iris lamented, but she finally got the chance to attack. She tried a Thunder spell this time, a bolt of energy flying from her hand to the other side.

It struck! She had caught him out. As the smoke cleared, her heart sank again. He didn't even seem to have flinched. She couldn't help but laugh, however, when she saw that her spell had, seemingly, managed to knock his glove off. The blue light from above almost made him look frozen still- he didn't seem to be breathing. Iris, on the other hand, was wheezing deeply- magic was exhausting, fighting more so. She moved around the perimeter again, watching him. He did the same thing. They were edging closer to one another and then, suddenly, he started moving back, still looking at her. As he turned, his gloved hand brushed against the sword, fingers outstretched. The hand had seemed to almost bump into the sword handle. She smiled for the first time since they started fighting. Had she imagined it? As if in answer, he turned again and the same thing happened. No one brushed against their sword like that. It was as if he had forgotten it was there. The sword was for show. To make him seem more frightening than he already was (which hardly seemed necessary). Iris had her lead. It was tenuous, but she was convinced, and it was all she had- her magic didn't seem to have an effect, she had to make the fight a physical one. She ran back towards the bridge. He was on the other side, arms outstretched. The bridge raised in the middle to a little summit. Perfect. She grabbed her dagger and started to run across. This was a gamble. But he had shown his flaw. That was all she needed. Reaching the mini summit and just as she could look down on her opponent on the other side, she leapt, dagger in one hand and the other forming a Shell spell. Just when she was about to land, she activated it. The green aura enveloped them both. She grinned. No magic worked inside a Shell. It was weapons only. He didn't even look towards the sword as she stabbed him in the chest, dagger in both hands as she did so. The aura faded as she withdrew the dagger. He collapsed to one knee and was still nearly as tall as her. Time to end it. Just as she drew back the knife for another hit, she saw it. The ungloved hand. A _human _hand. They had been humans before. Kyra hadn't used monsters. She had created them from _people_. And that moment of hesitation was all _he_ needed. A flash of energy came from the other hand, sending her crashing against the wall. Her back was agony. He had the upper hand now. She tried to stand but fell again, crawling away from the wall and towards the edge of the circle. Could she fall into the water again? Not likely with the ship below, and landing there from this distance could kill her. She looked up at him, blood running down her face from a cut on her cheek. He limped towards her. Iris cursed inside. She had had him on the ropes until she had been distracted. He was beatable. And yet, she hadn't beaten him. She was about to lose. He stalked towards her. He hadn't even made a noise when she stabbed him in the gut. The blue light shone on them both. What an odd place to die. Her whole life she hadn't left home, and she was going to die as far as she had ever been from it. Would the Tribe ever find out? They'd figure it out in the end. She wanted to feel them one more time. Just like she had done before leaping on to the ship. He was getting closer now, the golden eyes creeping towards her. She still couldn't see a head. She went to close her eyes. And then the Mage proved, once and for all, that he really _was _part human. He tripped on a little stone and looked down. This time she didn't hesitate. She used every ounce of energy she had to plunge the dagger in one more time. He collapsed on to both knees. She looked and stared into the gold eyes. They started to flicker, like someone was quickly switching a gaslight on and off. He was finished. Looking one more time at the hand that had nearly gotten her killed, she grabbed his cloak and threw him off the rocky platform to the ship below. He was so light that she had almost went with him. She lay flat on her stomach, peering out over the edge and watching him fall. His cloak seemed to be opening out, was he taking it off?. No. He was fading. Like the Monster he was. All that was left on the deck below was a cloak, his broadsword and her dagger. She had won.

A few minutes later, Iris was on the deck of the anchored ship, having just picked up her dagger. She looked at it. No blood. Odd. Placing it back in the sheath near her ankle, she kicked at the cloak. He was gone. In a way she was relieved. He was a Monster. Humans didn't disappear when they died. Killing Monsters was part of life on Gaia. Killing people less so, though it still happened. It was strange. Iris knew deep down what she had to do, what she _wanted_ to do, to Kyra and Dareem. She didn't shirk at it. They were monsters too, in their own way. But it was still different. It was more complicated. Both of them, at some point, had been innocent little kids. They were both someone's child. That's why she had hesitated when she saw the Mage's hand. That man, whoever he had been, had friends, family, parents, just like everyone else. But when she had saw the eyes flicker near the end she realised- whatever that man had been was long dead. He had been made into something else. She shuddered thinking about it. Kyra wanted to make an army from the people she conquered. Obedient, unquestioning soldiers. The Mist Continent, already wounded after the Incident, would be easy pickings. Kyra needed the Eidolon to make these Mages on a larger scale. If she managed it, the consequences were frightening.

Iris looked across the deck towards the other end of the cave, where the river had completely dried up, replaced by damp stones leading up a slight incline. Footprints. Three sets. Kyra, Dareem and the other Mage. Putting her hood up, she clambered back down to the path. She turned back to the ship. She knew what she had to do now. Kyra, Dareem, all of the Dissenters- they could never be allowed to leave the island. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked at the ship. When she had imagined the end of the mission, it had always ended one way- stealing the ship under the dark of night and sailing back to her Tribe, the Godstone tucked away in her cloak and the Dissenters left marooned and useless, if not dead. It was too much to risk now. If she couldn't stop them, she could at least stop them leaving. She raised her hand, the spell already forming, the light from the coming fireball illuminating her face. And then it died in her hand, flickering out like the Mage's eyes had. She stood still, pointing her hand towards the ship. The only sound was the gentle movement of the water below. Iris couldn't do it. To destroy that ship would be to end her own life. Stuck forever on the other end of the world. Tears still ran down her cheek. Was this selfish? Probably. People are selfish all the time. Only made sense that she would be too. She wondered what the Tribe would think. That was stupid- they weren't here, she was. Iris started to smile. No. This wasn't the end. She wasn't about to let Kyra and the others dictate her life. She turned away towards the footprints and walked. She would end the mission on her own terms, and she would leave on her own terms.


	3. Chapter 3

Iris had been walking for fifteen minutes. The climb had been steep- a long narrow pathway that bent around and around like a spiral as she made her way up the path. It was quite claustrophobic, a bit of a culture shock after the wide open expanse where she had fought the Mage. The blue light was a little duller here but was everywhere along the walls and the ceilings, with even some on the floor. She thought towards what lay ahead. Kyra, Dareem and the remaining (she hoped) Mage may well have met with the other Dissenters by now. All of them would be against Iris, and she had a feeling Kyra had more up her sleeve. Iris' mind was focussed on one thing- get the Eidolon and use Him. She hadn't planned to do this- she had never been all that fond of summoning the Gods and the Incident had put her off it completely. But she needed to even the odds. How she would go about it was another matter.

It was around twenty minutes later that the path came to an apparent end. At the summit of her little tunnel was a flat passageway shrouded in darkness. She walked through it, shivering slightly. It was colder here, and there were none of the blue lights that had dominated the landscape everywhere else in the island's interior. The end of the tunnel was visible, there was some kind of light there, though it wasn't blue. As she drew closer to the end of this little path, she started to hear voices. Someone was speaking. Were they shouting? Iris slowed as she approached the end and peered out. The path opened out into a small plateau. She was now in what she assumed to be the main part of the cave- the top of the hill she had seen from the boat when they arrived. The blue lights weren't here either. Walking forward, she suddenly realised that she had reached an edge and jumped back, startled. Iris looked down to see the main floor of the cave, about twenty metres down. The whole place was enormous. The cave was circular in shape and had a dome like quality on its ceiling. It almost looked manmade, but the rough nature of the walls offered a more natural feel. Down below, 2 "rivers", each about two metres wide and around ten metres apart from one another, extended horizontally across Iris' gaze. Her eyes followed the rivers left until the end of the cave, and saw that they extended to the outside of the mountain. Three large openings, two letting the rivers out and the other offering a door to the cave, appeared before her eyes. It was still dark outside, but the twin moons had lent a little of their glow in here, though not much. Iris was already missing the blue lights.

Just as she was about to clamber down to the surface, something caught her eye on the opposite side of the cave from the openings. Lanterns. At first two, then three, then more. All being lit one by one. The cave was lighting up. Iris quickly lay down on her stomach. They were here. The lanterns lit all over the floor, revealing the Dissenters standing below. And at the end of the cave opposite the doors, where two rivers fled from sight into the wall of the cave, were Dareem and the other Mage. Kyra was nowhere to be seen. Had she reprised her role as just another drone? Iris' eyes had gratefully adjusted to the light from the lanterns and she saw Aquamarine glowing at Dareem's feet. He and the Mage, who still had his own ornament sword, were both standing on a slightly raised level from everyone else. Looking again across the cave, she saw the Dissenters standing to attention, lanterns dotted here and there and strung on to wooden poles. The soldiers who wanted to break Gaia were all here for their big moment. Her eyes darted across the entire cave, desperately looking for Kyra. Iris wouldn't be able to own this situation until she found her. And then she saw the flaming red hair. In the third row, Kyra stood obediently, letting the old man have his moment. Iris lay as low as she could, reasonably confident she couldn't be seen. She kept her fingers flexing in motion though, just in case. It wouldn't stop any paralysis, but at least this time she would know it had happened (quite what good that would do was a question she placed firmly at the back of her mind).

It was a while before Dareem spoke. Iris could see that some of the Dissenters had started talking to each other, some of them were even smiling. Just chatting away like they were on holiday. For all their shouting and standing up straight, these people weren't soldiers. Iris wondered if they had any _real _idea what they were doing here. Sure, they believed in what they were doing. But could these people actually invade anywhere? Kyra was giggling with the man standing nearest her. She was back in her disguise- the one that had fooled Iris on the way here. She swore under her breath. Here she was, again, judging these people from the looks on their faces. That had nearly gotten her killed. These people were Dissenters. They had been brave enough to travel the whole world in search of power. Iris had patronised them for long enough. She looked again at Kyra, her fingers flexing faster than before as she did so. Her eyes narrowed. Iris had seen the Holy God terrorize a continent, burn towns to a cinder and destroy all that lay in his path. Kyra, in her own way, was more powerful than any Eidolon. To destroy was one thing. To create, quite another. She had, somehow, created a life that hadn't been there before. How? It still nagged at Iris. She had grown up around magic and had never seen anything remotely like that. That's what scared her the most. Dareem, who was scaring her less and less as time went by, interrupted her thoughts.

"Friends!" he boomed, the echo reverberating around the dome like cave. The chattering stopped and the Dissenters faced who they thought to be their Master. His audience stood dead still. Dareem held up the Aquamarine, the little stone upon which everything rested. For the Dissenters, it was the key to power. For Iris, it was the key to stopping them all. She shuddered a bit as she thought that. It would be the first time she had seen an Eidolon since the Incident. There was no other choice, but it didn't make it much easier. Dareem spoke again. "Welcome to our new fortress. Here, on Sacrobless Island, we will begin what we have set out to do- fulfilling the Summoner's _destiny_." Silence followed, surprisingly. On the boat that would've had howls of applause. Dareem looked just a _little _disappointed, which almost made Iris laugh. He went on. "Before we meet our God for the first time," he paused to build excitement, like he was speaking to people who had won a prize, "I want to introduce you to our newest ally in the fight." He motioned for the Mage to come forward. It did so, unquestioningly. The room was silent. "These Mages, friends, are born from the vessels of ungrateful, _lower _forms of life, we subdue their worst tendencies, add a little Mist and…" he motioned his hands, presenting the results. More silence. Not even a gasp. Did the Dissenters already know this? Iris saw Dareem's face a little clearer. He looked a little uncomfortable. She looked back at the crowd. Still silent. They weren't even moving. And then she saw Kyra flick her hair a little. Iris' heart started to race. She realised now what what had happened, and what was going to happen. The crowd didn't move a muscle. Of course they didn't, lamented Iris as she started to climb down to the floor of the cave- how had she not seen it right away? The Dissenters, every single one of them, had been paralysed by Kyra. Iris flexed her fingers again. Relief. Kyra didn't know she was here yet. It had to stay that way.

She reached the floor of the cave and hid behind some rocks, looking again at Dareem, who still had the same confused plastered on his face. Stupid old man. He went to speak again but just as he did, Kyra interrupted.  
"No need, Dareem, I have what I need now." Dareem's face moved from confusion to fear when he saw that nobody in the crowd reacted to her heckle. He must be starting to realise what was happening.  
"Kyra… what have…?"  
"You know what I've done, Dareem, so if we could avoid wasting any more breath on it, that'd be great." She strode towards him, down the middle of the gathering towards Dareem on his little podium.  
"But why? Kyra, we need them- we can't invade Mist with just the three of us, no matter how powerful the Eidolon is." At that, Kyra burst out laughing.  
"Need _them_?" she exclaimed, "_them_? We need one thing, Dareem, one thing- magic." Dareem got angry at that.  
"You think these people don't _know _that? We _are _magic Kyra, we all are. You, me, every single brave soul who didn't reject their heritage after the Incident. We're the most powerful mages on Gaia and you think we don't need them?" Kyra laughed again, she had clambered up to the podium now and was looking him in the eye. Dareem was looking right back. She had pushed him far enough. His steely eyes were boring right into hers. Kyra leaned right into his face.  
"Brave souls? You were all nothing until I joined the movement. Little losers who met a few times a month to complain about how this Grand Summoner and that Grand Summoner weren't doing what you wanted. It was _me_ who helped us realise our potential. And it was _me _who unleashed our true power." Dareem shook his head.  
"And it was you who lost control, Kyra. You saw what happened. You told the Tribe they could control him, that it would advance us by a thousand years. You told _me _we could subdue an entire Continent. He nearly destroyed it." Iris strained to hear. What did he mean by that? Kyra laughed.  
"We _did _subdue a continent, you stupid old man. It's a wreck. The Holy God did for us what swords and magic could never do. He brought all the pathetic little people, including _our _pathetic little people, to their _knees_. It's not my fault the traitors in the tribe destroyed his Godstone afterwards. If they had only realised what we had _gained_ we would never have had to come here in the first place. All we need now is this Eidolon to finish the job that Alexander started." Iris leant back against the rock. It was Kyra who had convinced the Tribe to summon Alexander. And she knew what would happen. Iris shook her head. The Tribe's greed had nearly destroyed them.  
"And then, Dareem, then I spent time with _them_," she shouted, pointing at the human statues. They were bad people, of that there was no question, but Iris tried not to think about how scared and confused they must be. "They're _weak_ Dareem. We're supposed to remake this world. They want to decorate it. But the Mages…" she paused again, pointing at the red cloaked figure who Iris had actually forgotten about, "You've seen what they can do. These _beings _have magic that is beyond most people in this world, and we used _humans _as hosts. Think what they'll be like when we use _Summoners_." Dareem stepped back, disgusted.  
"Kyra, you can't." He shook his head. "No, I won't let you. Kyra, this stops now." Even Iris nearly laughed at that. She wondered how he ever, at any point, thought he had any power over this woman.  
"Very well," said Kyra, and with that, she flicked her wrist. Dareem stood still, staring, unblinking. He was just like the rest of them now. Kyra turned her back on him as he stood like a stooped statue. And then the statue moved. He threw a fireball into her back and she flew about ten metres across the cave. It was Dareem who was laughing now. He held up his arm, revealing an armlet encrusted with little jewels against a bronze backdrop.  
"You think I wouldn't guard against your little trick?" Kyra leant her head up and motioned towards the Mage.  
"Get him." Nothing. Silence around the whole cave. Dareem held up his little armlet again and laughed.  
"Reflect, my dear, one of the simplest of all the spells. Any spell you cast, and heaven knows you always had something up your sleeve, bounces on to the nearest host- in this case, your little toy."  
Iris looked at Dareem. Some of that swagger was back. He looked more like the arrogant, entitled Summoner on the boat now. He had played _her_. The Aquamarine was sitting a couple of feet away from the Mage. Who couldn't move. Watched by the Dissenters. Who couldn't move. And the two ringleaders were at each other's throats. Iris smiled. Time to move. She grabbed her dagger and scraped it against the rock she was hiding behind. She began forming a Fire spell in her left hand and then stopped- she needed more than that. She clasped both hands together. It had been a while since she'd cast this strong a magic. A pale blue light started to form between her palms as they came apart from one another. Bigger, bigger. Colder. Unleashed. Blizzaga. Four enormous bolts of ice crashed into the podium, sending the Mage, Dareem and Kyra flying in opposite directions. Iris stood up and ran towards the ice cloud which had formed in the cave. As she came closer, she could feel the cold start to bite. This was dangerous. Essentially, the spell was still ongoing, and Iris was running right into the heart of it. But there lay what she needed more than anything. When she hit the cloud, the cold became unbearable. She had to stop herself from falling as the cold air swept down her throat. She didn't look, but her hands would be icy blue. She only saw the podium at the last minute, jumping at just the right time to avoid tripping up. Iris stopped. She was surrounded by the cold fog on all sides. Her eyes darted back and forth. She couldn't see it. Panic. So cold. Every big breath she took hurt. And then she saw it. In the corner of her eye, the glow of the Godstone. Unmistakable even in the fog. The same glow that came from the ceilings all around the cave below. She turned towards it and went to kneel. Then something came swinging and connected right in her chest. Now Iris went flying. All the way out of the fog. She screamed with the pain. She lay gasping, staring up at the ceiling. She had been so close. Leaning up to see the fog, she screamed again. Whoever had hit her had hit hard. The spell was finally over now, the icy fog fading to nothing. It revealed Kyra standing with what looked like a spear, a long brown one with a dull gold tip. a streak of blood was coming down her face. She was looking at the Godstone at her feet, but Iris was firmly in her sight. She was gasping for breath, and angry. Of course she was. She had lost control, just for a moment. Kyra was someone who didn't lose control. The Mage remained still a few feet away from her. Blizzaga hadn't moved him, but Iris knew it would have hurt him- possibly even worse than if he had been on the move. Iris was sitting now, hands behind her holding her up. The pain had subsided. She looked for Dareem. At first she couldn't see, but then she saw him. He was crawling along the ground. Kyra turned towards him. Iris felt bad, in a way. If she lived long enough to think about this moment, she would probably reflect that she was partly responsible for what was about to happen. He had the upper hand before. He had out thought Kyra. He had surprised Iris. He had disabled the Mage. But he was the biggest loser now. The game was up. All Iris could do was watch and, even if she could do something, would she? Hard to say really. As she was thinking about all of that, Kyra strolled towards him with her spear (where had she gotten _that_?). She stopped, her feet at his head. He looked up. His face was covered in blood. Was he about to beg?  
"You and I, we want the same thing, you know that?" He had barely spluttered that sentence out.  
"Yes. We do," Kyra said, softly. And then she crushed the spear through his back. He was dead.

Kyra stood over the body for a little while. Her breathing was still heavy, the only sound around the cave. She picked up the Godstone and started to mutter. It switched on. The stone had always had a light of sorts, but now a strong blue glow was coming emanating from it. For the first time in a long time, _Aquamarine_ was alive. The ceiling above seemed to be turning the same shade of blue as the stone- the same shade that had lit up so much of this odd island's interior. It had started. Iris was still lying on the floor, looking over at the scene, when Kyra looked directly at her. She glanced a look at the spear in her hand and smiled. It was a warm smile. Time and again, Kyra could disarm you with just one look.  
"The energy from a Godstone is unlike any other force on this planet. That's where Dareem made his mistake- I don't need to _summon _them, I just need their energy, and with it, I can create anything I like. Bringing them forth- you can't control that- we've both seen what they can do. I want to _remake _the world, Iris, not _destroy _it." She emphasised the words as though they weren't, essentially, the same thing.  
"And that's how you create them?" Iris asked, part curiosity, part time buying. Kyra nodded.  
"I can create one or two just myself, but for what's planned, I need more- the Godstones can provide it." She laughed, "I'm like you, Iris. Neither of us like the lack of control that comes with summoning, I can tell, and unlike the rest of them we know what good a weapon can do." She aimed her eyes at Iris' dagger and then towards her spear, clutched in her hand. Iris laughed. She couldn't help it. The absurdity of the situation- this genuinely awful person who had an entire room, soon an entire world, in her grip. Dareem was dead, the Mage was hers, the Dissenters were frozen and Iris was on her back. But Kyra, at that moment, was right. Sometimes you can share moments with even the worst people.  
"They never see it coming- not even your Mage." She had wondered if Kyra was going to take a slight to that but she just smiled. She moved towards the remaining Mage and touched its shoulder.  
"They're not perfect. But they will be." She looked towards the frozen Dissenters.  
"These people are too weak, Iris. They're not like us. They won't do what's required when it's time. You came here to kill us, didn't you?" Iris gazed into her eyes. It was funny hearing it out loud. There was a certain amount of hiding you could do when you didn't say things aloud.  
"Yeah."  
"You were going to massacre scores of people, girl. And I assume you think _I'm _the monster?" she laughed. Iris rolled her eyes.  
"That's not the same. You'll kill thousands if I let you get off this island." Iris ignored the smirk, presumably aimed at the quite presumptuous 'if' she had used, "If you're trying to make me feel guilty- I don't. I understand what I'll do perfectly well. And I'll live with it. It's what needs to be done- you want to end Gaia."  
"_Exactly_", said Kyra, "I wasn't looking for doubt Iris, I was hoping for resolve. Just like I said- you know what's required. So you'll understand why I have to kill you now." Iris' heart beat quickened. Whose wouldn't after the stopwatch was started on their own life? But she still had a job to do. She looked over at the Dissenters.  
"How does it happen? How do they change?"  
"Don't worry- I won't be making _you_ one, tempting as it is."  
"Because you're worried I'd still kill you?" Kyra shrugged.  
"Yeah- it's a fair point. You killed my Mage, Iris- no one has ever done that before." Iris smiled. The more she could get Kyra talking, the more time she had to think. Kyra kept up her end of the bargain, slowly walking closer to Iris, still lying on the floor, as she did so. "The Mist, Iris, it's not just some fog that Monsters like. The Mist _creates _the Monsters. And if I take just a pinch of it, I can create my own." She reached into her cloak and pulled out a little glass container. Mist was within, swirling all around. "The energy that Godstone will cook up is all I need to convert a few thousand- never mind one room. All I need is a little Mist, and there's plenty back home." Iris kept looking at the little container. When you saw it like that, in close quarters and unfamiliar territory, it looked _alive._ It was swirling around, as though it was trying to escape. Was it? And then Iris remembered Kyra's eyes. It was the same swirling movement. She looked up and saw it again. Her own irises swirling with it. And beyond her eyes, sitting next to a Mage and a dead body, was the Godstone, glowing, creating the energy Kyra needed. Left unattended. Iris tried not to smile. Her opening had arrived. It was narrow. And it was risky. But it was open.  
"You gave yourself some too, didn't you? Of the Mist I mean" Iris asked, knowingly. Kyra smiled.  
"Just enough to open my eyes."  
"And to give yourself some power. There's no one on earth who can petrify so many people at once." Kyra shrugged again. There was an honesty about her that you couldn't help but admire.  
"Sure- who wouldn't? And besides, I haven't petrified you yet." Iris looked up and smiled, spell hand ready under her sleeve.  
"But you're too much of a coward to go the whole hog, right? Why not make yourself a Mage?" Kyra smiled.  
"I'm perfectly comfortable being a hypocrite, Iris, so that won't work on me. I want other people to be lifeless shells. I myself don't fancy it. Just be grateful I'm showing you the last mercy of killing you instead." She lifted up her spear. Iris grinned her smuggest smile.  
"You should have." She sent a bolt of energy flying past Kyra and towards the _Aquamarine_. The last thing she saw before the blinding light was Kyra's face, furious. She had lost control one more time.

When the bolt hit the Godstone, a light so bright that Iris had to shut her eyes came from it and enveloped the room. The cave started to rumble. Was that a falling stone she heard? Her eyes remained shut as she rolled away towards what she thought (hoped) was the wall. Iris wasn't sure what she had expected when she had done that. She had half hoped that the mere act would have sent Kyra into a rage, which is what she wanted- people lost control when they were angry. With regards to the actual stone though, she had one thing in mind- disrupt whatever was happening. Kyra had focused the energy of the God, Iris wanted to scatter it. She opened her eyes. The light had gone but the ceiling was alive. The blue lights from before were _everywhere. _She got back on her feet and looked around for Kyra. She was back at the podium, looking at Kyra, laughing.  
"You broke it!" She was holding up the remains of the container. Iris bit her lip. Too much was happening to think about the consequences. Kyra's arms were flailing wildly. She seemed to be forming the Mist, controlling it, and then dispersing it where she saw fit. Iris heard a shriek. It wasn't Kyra. Then another. The Mage? Still standing stoically beside her. Then she heard many more and realised. She looked round to see Mist swirling in and among the Dissenters. The spell had worn off. To be replaced by something much worse. The lights above were shining brighter and brighter. The entire cave was still rumbling. The little container of Mist, it turned out, was deceptively small as the it had by now expanded over all of them. The screams became louder. She put her hands to her ears but it made no difference. The entire cave was filled with their despair. Tears ran down Iris' cheeks and she shut her eyes. She had failed. The voices filled her head. She couldn't move. Was this how they felt? Was she changing too? Was she fading away, to become a shell like them? Iris was screaming now. The rumble kept going. She felt sick. She vomited. She was on her knees now. And then it stopped. No more screams, no more rumbling in the cave. Iris opened her eyes and looked at the ground. The vomit lying there. She hadn't been changed- she felt pretty sure that Mages didn't look at vomit and wrinkle their noses- did they even have noses? The relief was short lived when she staggered to her feet. There they were. The Dissenters were gone. That's why the screaming had stopped. Replaced by Mage after Mage. In rows of about fifteen, silently facing Iris. An Army. And their Captain standing at the front, a big grin on her face. It was the same grin Iris had when she had tricked Dareem on the boat. The same one she had, prematurely as it turned out, used just a few minutes ago. The little smug look just to rub salt in the wounds. To let them know that they've been played. She knew it well, and she understood why Kyra was using it. Iris had nowhere to go. The gamble had failed. She held her dagger in her left hand, her other forming a spell. In her head, she supposed it was better to die than become one of them. She had a feeling that the Dissenters weren't _really_ dead. Somewhere in there, they knew what was happening, so that must be worse. But Iris didn't want to die either. It was always easy to say you'd rather die, but when the moment comes you don't feel quite so sure. Deep, deep down, you want to live. She made the biggest fireball she could, Firaga. They'd kill her before she let it fly, of course. But maybe they'd miss the first time. And maybe she would kill Kyra. Would a bunch of Mages without a master just stand still forever? That was the hope. She raised her hand, ready to go. Kyra's grinned vanished- she had had enough conversation. She glanced at the Mages.  
"Kill he…" And then came the wave. Silence was broken with a crash. A deluge of water came from the right of the cave. Just as Iris looked round she saw the same wave heading towards her. She leapt onto a wall and clung on as the water battered her body. Her head was just above the water but some of it got into her mouth as she spluttered and gasped. It was warm. But the force was too much. Iris let go. Later, she wondered if she had passed out or was it all just too traumatic to remember. But somehow, in between the rush of the water, and spotting that the ceiling above was a near neon blue now, she found herself clinging on to a rock which was jolting from the cave wall. The water was flowing out of the main entrance of the cave. The strength of the wave could kill, but where she was now, comfortably held as the wave began to recede, it almost felt like a bath. The water was lukewarm and, most surprisingly of all, it was clear. Like water that came from mountain springs back home. The flood began to shrink and soon, none of the water was submerging Iris at all. She looked over to the entrance and saw how it was flooding out. And when she looked back to the body of the cave, she saw him for the first time. Leviathan, Water God, Sea Serpent, was floating above it all, beating His wings occasionally. Iris gasped in wonder- she always did when she saw an Eidolon for the first time. Particularly this one- Leviathan was the stuff of legend- an Eidolon who hadn't been seen for hundreds of years. Until now. He had a dragon like head with shoots of purple and green through the scaly skin. The main body was like a snake, blue at the front with the purple and green head pattern repeated down his scaly back, with jagged ridges sticking out. On either side of Him were the magnificent wings, purple with a green outline. The wings weren't beating, yet he levitated above the ground. Iris smiled. She started to climb down. The ground was just a steady stream of water now. The Mages were nowhere to be seen. When Iris reached the floor, she walked over to meet Leviathan, the Eidolon who had _saved _the world after another nearly ended it, for the first time.

His sheer size was the most daunting thing. As Iris came closer he loomed larger and larger. The floor of the cave was still covered in water, but it was more like some heavy rain had just fallen now than a twenty food tidal wave. Her feet felt warm, they had dried quickly, as had her cloak, remarkably. Iris had been wet a _lot _in the last few weeks, and each and every time it was a thoroughly miserable experience, but this was different. Had he healed her? Before, the cave had been dank, dirty and cold. Now it was warm, fresh and comfortable. Why had he come to this island? And how long had he slept for? She looked up as he now flapped his wings, causing a light warm breeze to flow through the room. She felt a squelch below her feet and gasped when she looked down. A red cloak. Looking around, she saw them all, soaking wet on the floor. The Mages were gone. But there was no body. Maybe Kyra had been swept away. Iris scanned the cave. No one. She was the only mortal being in the room. But it was hard to believe that was that with someone like Kyra. If Iris could survive the wave, so could she. She turned back to the Sea Serpent and looked up at him. His long, scaly neck, knelt down so that His face could look at hers. As he did so, Iris noticed something she hadn't when she had first seen him. A long, red mark on the neck, down the side. It was a cut. Her eye was caught by his midriff- there was a cut there too. She took a step back and looked at him. Before, she had been looking at the majesty of an Eidolon, but now she was looking at a wounded beast. He was injured. And then it hit her. That's why he was here. Leviathan, the Water God, the Sea Serpent, was hurt. It was difficult for Iris to get her head around this. Eidolons were _Gods_, they couldn't _be _hurt. But here it was. And then she thought of the Incident, and the mistakes made by her Tribe. Summoners had debated for many years the morals of using their power. They had always worried about the harm they could do to others. But they had never considered for a moment the harm that could be done to the Eidolons _themselves_. He made a noise. A low bellowing sound came from his mouth. Leviathan was in pain. He had run away at some point, who knew when, and came here. But he was still hurt. Why hadn't the cuts healed? Below his floating body was the Godstone. Iris picked it up. It was a pale blue colour. Eidolons only entered the mortal world briefly- summoning brought them forth from another, unknown plane. Some questioned whether they were meant to be there at all. Leviathan had been here for too long. She held up the Godstone towards him. And just like that, a flash of light. Iris closed her eyes and, when she opened them, was holding the same Godstone, blazing blue in colour. She looked up, knowing what she'd see. No blue lights. Just the roof of a dank cave in the middle of nowhere. He had gone home. Iris smiled, gazing into the stone. Inside, she could see energy swirling around and around. The Godstone would need to be sealed away for him heal properly, she thought. For generations, maybe. Leviathan couldn't be summoned for a long time. Iris turned back towards the way she had entered the cave. She passed one of the rivers and went to wash her face. The water was warm and refreshing. She laughed. This island was remarkable. Maybe one day people could live alongside these warm waters in the middle of nowhere. She walked towards the passageway she had come in, ready to wind her way down the passage and back to the boat. As she did so, she couldn't shake one thought- Kyra's spear was nowhere to be seen.

The sun was up now. It was still freezing. Iris really, _really _missed warm temperatures. She had searched the boat top to bottom for any sign of life before setting off, to no avail. She was standing at the front of the boat, staring ahead as the sun lay low in the sky. Looking back towards Sacrobless Island, she smiled, glad she had kept the boat waiting. At first, she had thrown her cloak off, her disguise no longer needed. But it was so cold that this grand gesture had to be reversed- the benefits of lone missions being that you could do that without losing face. She closed her eyes, feeling out the Tribe. They were far away, the other side of Gaia and a little bit further. Opening them, she took out the Godstone, its energy swirling within. She closed both hands around it and shut her eyes again. Its energy amplified the senses. Iris could feel all the magic in the whole world. She could feel its people, its places, its shape. She could feel the oceans teeming with life. She could feel the grasslands back home, the mountains up north, and the sun kissed landscape where her people had made their home. She could feel a network under the ground that connected the whole world, threading it all together. She could feel places that were not of this world and yet were here on Gaia. With the Godstone, she could feel all of Gaia in her hand. Iris opened her eyes, smiling more than she had in weeks. The Tribe were on the Outer Continent in the North East- they would be able to seal Leviathan away and let him heal properly. She looked out ahead and grinned. That was far away. She could pass through many places on the way. Iris wasn't ready to go back just yet. There was Kyra- she had to be out there somewhere. She was bent but not broken. And there was the whole of Gaia too. Just waiting to be seen. Iris moved over to the wheel and placed her hands on it. Where next?

END


End file.
